Case Is Compelling For “Full Choice” In Palm Beach County Schools

In a perfect world, full choice would not be necessary. But in one where some schools have better outcomes than others, wealthier families have an unfair advantage in finding their children a place at the best ones.

Amid all the jockeying for homes in the right school zones, the gradual exodus to charter schools, the angst over choice-program lotteries, a member of the Palm Beach County School Board has proposed an intriguing solution: Let all of the county’s public school students choose the school they attend.

Board member Mike Murgio is calling for the school district to go to some version of a “full choice” program, which would give all students an opportunity to attend a school other than the one their neighborhood is assigned to. The idea, Murgio says, is that “people having choice is a good thing.”

Though it’s controversial, it is also an idea worth exploring seriously, especially as other changes to public education – the rise of charter schools, the expansion of private school vouchers, the increase of existing choice programs within the school district – put added pressure on the current system.

One theoretical benefit of full choice is that with more ability to select a school, families become more engaged in the education process.

But more importantly, when it comes to school attendance, children would no longer be victims of geography. This holds particularly true for low-income families, who often don’t have the same means to send a child to private school or move to a different neighborhood if they’re dissatisfied with their local public school.

In a perfect world, full choice would not be necessary. But in one where some schools have better outcomes than others, wealthier families have an unfair advantage in finding their children a place at the best ones.

Done correctly, full choice could help to diminish this disparity. That makes it worth considering.